Starting Over
by horse-crazy girl13
Summary: After being in the hospital for seven months, anorexic Annabeth Chase gets to go back home and try to start herself back on track again. But with drama and family problems, can Annabeth keep herself from going back to her old ways? Starting over again isn't easy, so can Percy keep her from ruining herself... again? Percabeth!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guyz! So I know I should really be updating my other stories but this one just came to me. I don't know if it will be any good, how far I will get in it, or where I'm going with this! I'm just gonna wing it! Please check out my other stories! I also just posted a one-shot called 'I Should Have Known'.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians!**

**Happy Reading!**

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**Annabeth**

I took a deep breath before walking into the school. _Come on, Chase! It's just school!_, I chided myself.

I made my way through the crowded halls, towards my locker.

I hadn't been in this place for the last seven months. As I passed a few people that I recognized, I could see their eyes widen in surprise as they realized who I was. I flashed them a nervous smile and walked on.

Maybe I should explain my nervousness.

I have anorexia nervosa. Yup. I starved myself until I had to be hospitalized. It was an emotional disease as well as a physical one. I was hospitalized twice before they made me stay for the seven months. The first time, I had some counseling (which I hated) and then when it seemed like I was getting better, they let me go with a warning. The second time, I had some more counseling (which I hated even more) and they made me stay for a little less than a month. Finally, it got so bad that I had to stay hospitalized for the seven months. I'm not even going to say how bad the counseling was then.

It's not that I enjoy it. It's just that my life seemed to be spinning so out of control that my eating (or not eating) was the only thing I _could _control.

I know I still sound crazy, but you've got to have the disorder to really understand it.

Anywho, I was walking towards my locker, trying to figure out how I'd present myself to my friends. I didn't tell them I was coming back. I wanted to surprise them.

Then I spotted them. My big group of friends were standing together with their backs facing me.

I decided to sneak up behind them.

"...don't understand how you did it _again._" That would be my friend, Piper.

"Hey, I can't help it if our teacher doesn't even understand what she's teaching us! I mean, how do you forget how to do the Pythagorean Theorem?" I heard Nico di Angelo exclaim.

"True, but this your like sixth time in detention this semester!" Juniper said.

"It's not like my parents are gonna care!" Nico retorted.

"So who will you have for detention?" Grover asked.

"Um, I think she said Mrs. Dodds," he said.

Wow, whatever he did, it must have ticked the teacher off, because student aren't usually assigned to Mrs. Dodds unless they did something really bad, or the teacher just particularly hates them. Or both.

I laughed. "Jeez, Nico, what exactly did you _do?_" I asked.

They all turned around slowly at the sound of my voice. They stared at me wide-eyed. Then,"ANNIEEEEE! YOU'RE BAAACK!"

And that, of course, would be my best friend, Thalia. She ran forward and gave me a bone crushing hug.

"C-can't b-breathe!" I choked out.

She let go and all my friends gathered around me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought you said it would be another few weeks before you came back!"

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"Oh my goodness, we missed you so much!"

They all bombarded me with questions.

"What did I tell you about calling me Annie?" I said, glaring at Thalia. Then I let a huge smile spread across my face.

Everyone laughed and we all exchanged hugs.

"I missed you guys so much! I finally convinced them that I was well enough to go to school and all that, and then I decided that I'd surprise you!" I explained.

I got some of my books out of my locker and walked with them to our home room class.

They all seemed so excited that I was back and I was happy to be with them again.

I was about to walk into class, but Thalia turned around and said,"Wait. Don't come until I call you."

"Okay...?" She walked into the class.

"WE'RE BAAAACK!" Thalia yelled walking into the room. I chuckled.

"Yo, Mr. Brunner! What's up man? Bet you're glad that you have to endure another week of me!" Thalia said.

Only Thalia would say that and actually get away with it. But Mr. Brunner has always been an awesome teacher. I could practically hear him rolling his eyes right now.

"Yes yes, I'm delighted," he said sarcastically. "And I believe you still owe me that two page essay," he added.

I heard Thalia groan.

Then I heard,"Thalia what are you doin-"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! We know her, we love her, and we've missed her! Behold, the great ANNABETH CHASE!"

Oh. My. Gosh. Talk about embarrassing. I was tempted to leave her hanging, but I reluctantly walked in.

Mr. Brunner was in his wheel chair with a puzzled look on his face. The rest of the class was staring at Thalia who was standing on top of a desk grinning like an idiot. Which she was.

I cleared my throat and everyone turned their eyes to me at once. That was a little creepy.

"Uh, hi," was all I said. Yeah, real intelligent, right?

Silence.

"Annabeth! I didn't know you were coming back today," Mr. Brunner said.

I smiled.

"How are you?" he asked me.

"Better," I replied.

Which was true. I still had a problem with feeling like I was fat even though I was still VERY skinny. And I still had a pretty hard time eating, but I was so much better than I was before.

"That's great," he said.

Everyone around me was whispering and pointing at me. Jeez, obvious much?

I went and sat at the back of the room with my friends.

We were catching up on things, when a guy walked into our class and sat in the desk next to me.

"Oh hey, Perce!" Nico said.

I was confused. Who was this kid?

Thalia turned to me. "Annie, this is Percy. Percy Jackson."

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**Was that good? Bad? Terrible? Sorry for the short chapter! Sorry for OOCness! Please review! And I'll try to update 'Cinderella' tomorrow. I've been busy because of school. :/ I hope you liked it! Also, I don't like the title, so if you guys could help me think of a new title for it, that'd be great! Thanks! REVIEW! (Even if you're a guest!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my goodness, I am SO sorry for taking so long to update! I feel so bad, but I've been focusing a lot of my attention on my other story 'Cinderella'. I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT 308 REVIEWS for that story! YAY! Anywho, I'm not exactly in the best of moods today, seeing as I got bullied a TON today at school so... yeah. Sorry if this isn't the best chapter. REVIEW!**

**Happy Reading!**

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**Annabeth**

"This is Percy. Percy Jackson," Thalia said.

The guy seemed friendly enough. He smiled warmly at me and he had the most gorgeous sea green eyes ever!

"Hi, I'm Annabeth," I introduced myself.

"Oh, so you're the girl that-"

"That has anorexia?" I interjected.

"Um, actually, I was going to say 'the girl who Thalia and the gang always talk about'."

"So you're friends with them?" I asked. I liked how he didn't try to treat me differently because I have anorexia.

"Yup! They are quite an interesting group of people, you know," he said, eyes twinkling.

I rolled my eyes. "No kidding! I honestly don't know what I ever did to deserve such wackos as friends," I said teasingly.

"Um, you do realize that we are right here, don't you?" Thalia glared at me.

"Yup!" I said, popping the 'p'. I very maturely stuck my tongue out at her.

She nudged me playfully.

"So what else has been happening while I've been stuck in my prison- sorry- _house?"_

Piper laughed. "Well, we've all figured out that Nico has a crush on Thalia!"

Thalia scowled.

"No I don't!" Nico said, as though they've had this conversation hundreds of times. Which they probably had.

"Awww! I can totally see the likeness between the two of you! Wow, imagine this: we might one day have a little Thalia and a little Nico running around!" I teased.

Thalia glared harder and Nico's face turned red.

"Shut up!" they both said. We all laughed.

Hazel, who never really talks much, spoke up.

"I don't want to ruin the mood, but how have things been for you, Annabeth?" she asked gently.

I looked down at my hands. "Okay, I guess. I still don't like to eat very much. But my dad and I have definitely grown closer."

"It'll get better. You are a very strong person, Annabeth. And I'm happy that you're closer to your father," Hazel said. You just gotta love her. She's so thoughtful and intelligent.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

The my next few classes were really nice. I got to see my friend, Jason, Piper's boyfriend. I also got to see, Frank, Hazel's boyfriend.

It was lunch time hat was the hardest part of the day.

Everyone was sitting at our usual table. I was about to go sit down, but Thalia nudged me.

"You're eating," she ordered.

"I had a big breakfast," I lied smoothly.

"Yeah, I've heard _that _before. Now eat," she said. I sighed. I really am a good liar, but since Thalia was my best friend, and I had made that lie so many times before becoming anorexic, she could mostly see right through me.

"Yes, mother! Although, it's not like you can actually call this stuff food," I grumbled.

She smiled and I walked into the line. I noticed that she got behind me to keep me from trying to sneak away. I grabbed a tray of what was _supposed _to be macaroni. I also grabbed an apple, some carrots, and some water.

After sitting down across from Percy, Thalia wrinkled her nose.

"Jeez, Annie, how can you eat that stuff? Looks way too healthy for my liking."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't call me Annie. And, yes, I can see that."

Thalia had a two slices of pizza, a blue Powerade, two cookies, and a bag of chips. Healthy right?

I toyed around with the food, just picking at it and occasionally taking small bites. I could feel a massive migraine coming on, and the doctor had warned me that I would feel really tired.

I gently massaged my temples. Then I realized that everyone had stopped talking and was looking at me.

"What?" I demanded.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked, looking concerned. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, ignoring the increasing pounding in my head.

"No, you're not," Percy said, studying me. I looked up, narrowing my eyes at him. What does he know?

"Yes I am," I said through gritted teeth.

"Thalia warned me that you are a good liar, but that's not really an obstacle for me," he continued as if I'd never even interrupted.

"And just what makes you think I'm lying?" I demanded. Everyone at the table was silent, their heads moving to each of us as we spoke, as if they were watching a tennis match.

"Because you have that same look in your eyes that my mom has when she's lying. And she was abused by my step-father. After being able to tell when she's lying, it's not very hard for me to read people," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving mine.

"I'm sorry about your mom. But, look, just don't worry about me. I'll be just fine," I said, and before anyone could argue, I stood up and dumped my full tray into the trash can.

The day dragged on, and as it did, I started to feel worse. By the time I had my last class, I was practically dead on my feet. The little bit of food that I had eaten at lunch, churned uncomfortably. I hadn't used this kind of energy in such a long time.

My last class was just a free period, and lucky for me, my whole group of friends were in it with me. We spent the time in Mr. Brunner's room.

I was working on some homework, when Thalia came up to me.

"Annabeth, you look terrible."

"Oh gee, thanks!" I muttered.

"Go home," she ordered. I looked up at her, exasperated.

"Are you kidding?! This is only my first day back and I am _not_ going to go home early. Besides, we only have like an hour left of school," I reasoned.

My other friends and Percy walked over too. Oh great.

"You look really pale. You should really go home," Piper said.

"So I've been told," I said, trying to concentrate on my math.

"Annabeth, stop trying to be all strong! Go home!" Piper said forcefully.

"NO!"

"Annabeth, I know I really don't know you, but your friends are right. You look like a dead person walking," Percy told me. I looked up at him. My breath caught when our eyes met. But I quickly tore my gaze away.

"Oh yeah, I'm _definitely _feeling the love now. Can you guys just please lay off?" I grabbed my bag and stomped off out into the hall.

I walked out the back of the school, where the picnic tables were, and sat on one, taking in the warmth of the sun.

"Your friends and I were only trying to help," a voice behind me said.

I jumped and turned around. It was Percy.

I sighed. "I know. I'm sorry, it's just that you have no idea how these past seven months have been."

He walked over and sat beside me. "Then tell me," he said simply.

"Are you sure? I mean, you don't even know me."

He just shrugged indifferently. "I can't get to know someone if I don't talk to them."

"True," I agreed. "Well, here goes: For the past seven months, things have been pretty hard. And I know that most of it is my fault for becoming anorexic but that doesn't really change anything. I have been under the careful and annoying surveillance of my father, the doctors, and my counselor. I never really get to be alone. Every morning I have to wake up to the same things. 'How are you feeling today, Miss Chase?' It's nice that they care about me but it just gets so annoying! And I don't want to be anorexic anymore, but I also still don't like eating. And now I'm tired because all the moving around so much today, and my friends are treating me the same way my doctors and dad and counselors have been. It's so frustrating!" I finished.

We sat in silence for a little bit.

"I'm so sorry. It must be awful. But your friends do love you. While you were gone, all I ever heard was 'Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth'. I've been wanting to meet this girl that everyone is always talking about. And she's just as beautiful as people say she is."

I snorted. "Thanks, but yeah right. I'm not beautiful. I am almost literally just skin and bones. I'm messed up. My hair is dull, my bones are weak, and I have circles around my eyes."

"Maybe, but it's not what's on the outside that counts," he pointed out.

I smiled softly. "You really are a good person. You've only known me for less than a day and you're trying to make me feel good about myself."

I stared into his eyes. So many emotions in them, mysteries swimming in them. And suddenly I wanted to solve every one of them.

I don't know what made me say, but I did.

"We should try to hang out more. You know, get to know each other," I blurted. _Jeez, Annabeth! You barely know this guy and you already like him! _one part of me said.

_I do not like him! I just want to get to know him! _the other part of me argued.

_Uh huh, sure._

Oh gosh. I'm actually talking to myself. Not a good sign.

To my surprise, he looked straight into my eyes and said, "I'd love to."

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**Sorry for the not so good chapter. I just can't stand those horrible people at school! The way they torment me just makes me want to strangle them! But, yeah, I know it was rushed and OOC but I'll try to do better next time. Also, I'm battling between the new titles 'Clean Slate' by R5isamazing and 'Back in Control' by Guest. Thank you so much guys for those titles! And thank you to everyone who reads this! Please REVIEW! (Even if you're a guest!)**


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